Case studies

Advice on creating opportunities for early career researchers to develop their teaching skills

Mind the gap: creating a pathway for post-doctoral researchers to gain teaching experience

Postdoctoral researchers often struggle to secure teaching experience so institutions need to develop opportunities for these academics to support or lead classes. Ellen Bull explains how this can be done

Ellen Bell

University of East Anglia

Advice on the support needed to get more young women into higher education in sub-Saharan Africa

How to change the default settings that exclude women in sub-Saharan Africa from higher education

Angeline Murimirwa outlines the steps necessary to support young women from marginalised communities in sub-Saharan Africa into and through higher education

Angeline Murimirwa

CAMFED (Campaign for Female Education)

Advice on building a sustainable long-term gender equality action plan to improve female representation at your institution

Embedding gender equality: building momentum for change

Eileen Drew explains how positive leadership, data-informed actions and priorities, mass engagement and collaboration all feed into a successful gender equality initiative

Eileen Drew

Trinity College Dublin

Advice on developing research informed strategies to widen participation in higher education

Widening access to postgraduate studies: from research to strategy to action

Providing equitable access into and through higher education is a constant battle, especially in postgraduate research, but barriers can be addressed when evidence is connected to action, as Diane Gill explains

Diane Gill

University of Edinburgh

Tree growing out of book illustrating storytelling-based assessment task CLEAR-JEs

How to use storytelling-based assessment to increase student confidence

Carl Sherwood explains how to set up an authentic assessment task using students’ own contextualised writing

Carl Sherwood

The University of Queensland

Advice on driving institutional action towards net zero

Accelerating towards net zero emissions: how to mobilise your university on climate action

John Madden provides insight on how universities can mobilise their intellectual and institutional capacities to accelerate towards net zero emissions

John Madden

University of British Columbia

Advice on bringing institutions together in international collaborations designed to address the SDGs

‘Embrace messiness’: how to broker global partnerships to tackle the Sustainable Development Goals

Annelise Riles and Meghan Ozaroski share advice on bringing universities around the world together to address global problems, such as climate change, by investing in relationships, thinking long-term and working around inevitable bumps

Annelise Riles, Meghan Ozaroski

Northwestern University

Advice on developing early college programmes which improve higher education outcomes for students from underrepresented group

How to design early college programmes that foster success for under-represented students

David Dugger explains what an early college programme should focus on in order to improve outcomes for students from under-represented groups

David Dugger

Eastern Michigan University

Advice on moving from printed to digital teaching materials to improve student engagement and sustainability

How using digital workbooks can increase student engagement and help institutions go green

How to move from printed to digital workbooks rich with interactive content such as audio, video and quizzes, to improve online learning outcomes while boosting sustainability

Yan Wei, Paul Tuck

Xi'an Jiaotong - Liverpool University

Advice on collaborating with student activists to improve institutional sustainability

Working with student activists to speed up progress towards a sustainable future

Jaime Toney explains how working with grassroots student activists can help accelerate institutional action towards the Sustainable Development Goals

Jaime Toney

University of Glasgow

Advice on breaking down student anonymity to build relationships when teaching online and in person

Unmasking the scientist: breaking down anonymity to build relationships when teaching online

Simple solutions to link students’ names to faces and build a rapport with individuals in your class when teaching online, by Kelly Edmunds and Bethan Gulliver

Kelly Edmunds , Bethan Gulliver

University of East Anglia

Advice on using unique datasets in online exams to deter cheating among students

Online exams are growing in popularity: how can they be fair and robust?

Nicholas Harmer and Alison Hill share advice on using unique datasets to deter student collusion in online exams

Nicholas Harmer, Alison Hill

University of Exeter

Advice on working with students to develop a well-being module that educates them in mental health and self-care

Co-creating an interdisciplinary well-being module for all students

Elena Riva and Wiki Jeglinska explain how academics can work with students to co-create well-being modules that span multiple disciplines and support students’ self-care, drawing on their own experience of collaborating on such a scheme

Elena Riva, Wiki Jeglinska

University of Warwick

Woman writing on a whiteboard

Study trips and experiential learning: from preparation to post-trip reflection

Rebecca Wang outlines the key steps to take before, during and after a successful international field trip

Rebecca Wang

University of Westminster

Hands locked in a circle illustrating race equality curriculum

Building an inclusive learning community to deliver a race equality curriculum

Ricardo Barker and Syra Shakir reflect on how to set up a curriculum that engages everybody in conversations about race equality

Ricardo Barker , Syra Shakir

Leeds Trinity University

Advice on organising a virtual international student get-together

Lessons from organising a virtual international student camp to develop the next generation of leaders in sustainability

Yhing Sawheny and Ashutosh Mishra offer advice on organising a virtual international event after bringing students together online to hone their leadership skills in sustainability

Yhing Sawheny, Ashutosh Mishra

Siam University

Insight on how community based research projects can motivate students as their apply their learning to real world problems

Using community-based research projects to motivate learning among engineering students

Trithos Kamsuwan explains how community-based research projects can be used to motivate students, creating opportunities to apply principles they have learned in class to solve real-world problems

Trithos Kamsuwan

Siam University

Building equitable scientific research partnerships with the global south requires trust and equality in decisionmaking

Creating equitable research partnerships across continents

Shabbar Jaffar provides tips for successful international collaborations built on trust, appropriate recognition and inclusiveness in decision-making

Shabbar Jaffar

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

Advice on shaping community outreach in order to improve educational outcomes for local communities

Changing lives through community engagement and outreach

Josephine Bleach outlines questions that higher education institutions should ask to help them foster authentic community engagement that improves educational outcomes for children, families and communities

Josephine Bleach

National College of Ireland

20-something woman with hand over mouth illustrating article about addressing taboo subjects

Talking about taboos: how to create an open atmosphere for discussing difficult subjects

Lindsay Morgan offers practical, step-by-step advice for removing barriers to addressing uncomfortable topics such as consent and menstruation

Lindsay Morgan

Edinburgh Napier University

How to revitalise student knowledge exchange with local communities

How co-creating an ‘umbrella’ programme can help institutions innovate student knowledge exchange and improve engagement with local communities and businesses, a team from Queen Mary University of London explain

Patrick McGurk, Joanne Zhang, Fezzan Ahmed, Olivia Reid

Queen Mary University of London

Insight on a new approach to training students in applied learning from the medical school team at NUS

Collaborative learning cases: a fresh approach to applied learning

A group of medical educators introduce a new teaching model being used to improve students’ ability to apply learning in clinical or real-world settings through collaborative work on specific cases

Dujeepa Samarasekera

National University of Singapore

How to ensure online teaching benefits the education of sustainability issues

Engaging students in applied research to tackle Sustainable Development Goals

Jen O’Brien describes a pedagogical project that engages students in applied research carried out in partnership with external organisations, related to the Sustainable Development Goals

Jen O'Brien

University of Manchester

Advice on delivering far reaching faculty development training in blended learning

A model for developing global expertise in blended learning

Daniella Bo Ya Hu outlines a framework for building expertise in blended learning using lessons in capacity development, staff incentivisation and leadership learned from an international pilot training programme

Daniella Bo Ya Hu

The Association of Commonwealth Universities

Advice on developing communities of practice to foster virtual collaboration between universities

How a community of practice can foster virtual collaboration

Eugene Schulz and Dagmar Willems share insights and takeaway lessons from creating a community of practice for higher education instructors to develop virtual exchanges with international partners

Eugene Schulz, Dagmar Willems

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

Advice for designing and building immersive, large-scale teaching experiences in video games

Generating immersive, large-scale teaching experiences in video games

Richard Fitzpatrick and Thomas Little offer insights for designing and developing immersive learning experiences using video games, based on their experience using Minecraft in their teaching

Richard Fitzpatrick, Thomas Little

University of Edinburgh

Advice on using blogs to showcase and assess students' knowledge

Students as educators: the value of assessed blogs to showcase learning

Matt Davies explains how assessed blogs help translate the thrill of interactive learning into tangible outcomes that enrich and showcase students’ knowledge

Matt Davies

University of Chester

Advice on training students in presenting

Make yourself presentable

Richard Gratwick sketches a course designed to develop students’ presentation skills, whether in person or online, using principles that are universal

Richard Gratwick

University of Edinburgh

Three benefits of moving final year assignments online

Three lessons from exhibiting final-year projects online

Dechanuchit Katanyutaveetip describes three unexpected benefits he and his students discovered after they were forced to move the exhibition of their final-year projects online

Dechanuchit Katanyutaveetip

Siam University

Advice on implementing rapid response public engagement projects

Three steps to successful rapid-response civic engagement with students

Kathleen Riach outlines key lessons from successfully leading a rapid-response civic engagement project with students to help over 50s gain better digital access

Kathleen Riach

University of Glasgow

Advice on developing an educational app to link students learning to the world around them

Developing an educational app to engage students in the world around them

Niki Vermeulen and Kate Bowell describe a creative approach to place-based learning involving an app that offers educational walking tours linking students’ studies to the world around them

Kate Bowell, Niki Vermeulen

University of Edinburgh

An example of how co-creation of curriculum content with students can work

Co-creation of curricula with students: a case study

Eric Tsui outlines a method he uses to enhance student learning through the co-creation of new scenarios for curriculum development in their discipline

Eric Tsui

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

A case study on creating a bridging system to help students prepare for STEM courses at university

High tech and high touch: designing a bridging system to help students prepare for STEM studies

Karin Avnit, Victor Wang and Prasad Iyer describe how combining technology-supported learning with targeted face-to-face instruction helps ensure all students start university with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed

Karin Avnit , Victor Wang, Prasad Iyer

Singapore Institute of Technology

Advice on using design thinking to engage students in developing real world solutions to sustainability challenges

It’s a game changer: using design thinking to find solutions to the Sustainable Development Goals

Rachel Bickerdike explains how using design thinking to find solutions to the Sustainable Development Goals can open up a new world of social entrepreneurship for students

Rachel Bickerdike

Durham University

Advice on setting up a global virtual exchange that enhances your students intercultural knowledge

Global virtual exchange: promoting international learning

Christopher Brighton presents a model of global virtual exchange that could be easily replicated at any institution to enhance its students’ intercultural knowledge and skills

Christopher Brighton

Xi'an Jiaotong - Liverpool University

Advice on using existing online resources to support your teaching

Making the most of online educational resources: a case study

Pascal Grange explains how online educational resources can be used to complement teaching and enhance students’ opportunities for learning

Pascal Grange

Xi'an Jiaotong - Liverpool University

Taking a human approach to providing support for student well-being online

Using online coaching to support student well-being

Helen Duff explains how a human approach to providing support online, in the form of coaching sessions, can have a powerful impact on student well-being

Helen Duff

Arden University

Lessons in how gamification can help drive students' online learning

Lessons from gamification to enhance students’ capacity for learning

Oran Devilly and May Lim share lessons from using gaming techniques to help students develop the learning traits needed to benefit from online teaching

Oran Devilly, May Lim

Singapore Institute of Technology

How to use technology to offer disadvantaged students pathways to higher education

Using tech to connect refugees with pathways to higher education: an emerging case study

Kate Symons and Georgia Cole share key lessons from a pilot project aiming to support refugees and learners from disadvantaged communities in Uganda into higher education

Kate Symons, Georgia Cole, Foundations for All team

University of Edinburgh, Foundations for All

Move marking online to reduce waste paper at your university

Greener assessment: transitioning to online marking

Universities should lead by example on sustainability issues, looking at what they can do to shrink their environmental impact. Here, Ling Xia and Yao Wu outline a project that could herald a major reduction in their institution’s paper consumption

Ling Angela Xia , Yao Wu

Xi'an Jiaotong - Liverpool University

Advice on developing digital capability courses that help students learn online

Lessons in developing digital capability courses for students

Gunter Saunders explains how to design courses that engage and incentivise students to gain the digital skills they need to flourish in the online learning environment and beyond

Gunter Saunders

University of Westminster

How to support entrepreneurship among students via digital channels

Sparking entrepreneurship online

Laura-Jane Silverman describes how LSE’s entrepreneurship centre created continued opportunity for innovation, collaboration and personal development among students after moving online

Laura-Jane Silverman

London School of Economics and Political Science

Build peer support networks to help staff navigate digital teaching

Building peer support networks to help staff navigate digital teaching

Kay Yeoman and Alicia McConnell explain how the University of East Anglia has used peer support networks to ensure all university staff have access to the advice, support and training they need to deliver quality online teaching

Kay Yeoman, Alicia McConnell

University of East Anglia

Developing students academic writing skills

Developing academic writing skills to boost student confidence and resilience

Academic writing skills are fundamental to most university courses. Andrew Struan explains how Glasgow has taken a whole-university approach to ensure all students are well equipped to succeed

Andrew Struan

University of Glasgow

How to design asynchronous online teaching to foster high levels of spontaneous student discussion

How I fostered multilingual student discussion in asynchronous online classes

Ioannis Gaitanidis explains how he went about designing his asynchronous online teaching to foster the same level of spontaneous student discussion as his in-person classes

Ioannis Gaitanidis

Chiba University

How to offer real-world training and fieldwork through digital channels as part of its online courses

How to tackle fieldwork and real-world training online

Francine Ryan explains how the Open University law school offers real-world training and fieldwork through digital channels as part of its online courses

Francine Ryan

The Open University

Learn how to create online teaching principles that actually help faculty

Creating online teaching principles that actually help faculty

Amanda Sykes talks about how to develop online teaching resources around a set of simple guiding principles that are immediately accessible and helpful for faculty trying to get to grips with new digital pedagogies

Amanda Sykes

University of Glasgow

How to create a centralised online advice resource for instructors moving their courses online

Creating a centralised advice resource to help faculty adapt to new teaching modalities

To assist staff in adjusting courses to new online and hydrid teaching modes, the University of Arizona created a centralised information and advice resource. Here is a summary of how they did it and the key considerations and lessons learned

Ingrid Novodvorsky , Lisa Elfring

University of Arizona

How Southampton University supported staff across all departments to design quality online courses

How to support staff across all departments to design quality online courses

The sudden shift to online forced university staff to rethink and redesign classes often with little experience or knowledge of remote teaching. Helen Carmichael and Bobbi Moore explain how Southampton University supported all faculties to ensure high quality online courses

Helen Carmichael, Bobbi Moore

University of Southampton

Approaches to moving practical courses to more remote learning

Innovative approaches to moving practical learning online

A major challenge of the move to remote learning is how to teach practical subjects. Here, Lesley Saunders and Lucy Kirkham discuss how they adapted a large nursing course by adopting a combination of online, blended and socially distant teaching

Lesley Saunders , Lucy Kirkham

Sheffield Hallam University

How the Open University of Hong Kong is offering socio-emotional learning to protect student well-being

Socio-emotional learning online: boosting student resilience and well-being

The Covid-19 crisis has led to worsening mental health and increased stress among students. Kathleen Chim talks about how the Open University of Hong Kong has tried to build students’ mental resilience through socio-emotional learning

Benjamin Tak Yuen Chan, Kathleen Chim

Hong Kong Metropolitan University

Illustration of a man sitting on an hourglass

How Duke Kunshan University transitioned to online learning in two weeks

Faced with the rapid spread of Covid-19 on its doorstep, Duke Kunshan University in China decided to move all its teaching online in just two weeks to finish the third term. Here, we look at how this was achieved and the lessons they learned

Kevin Guthrie, Catharine Bond Hill, Martin Kurzweil, Cindy Le

Ithaka S+R , Duke Kunshan University